Reckitt Benckiser is working to resolve both its search for a new chief executive and its position relating to U.S. charges of wrongdoing at a former business, its chairman told investors at its annual general meeting on Thursday. The maker of Lysol cleaners and Durex condoms is "well under way with a comprehensive process" to select a successor to Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor, Chairman Christopher Sinclair said at the meeting in London. "I'm hopeful that in the not-too-distant future, we'll have something significant to report here," Sinclair said.

LONDON/BEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) - Nestle plans to launch a new line of baby formula in China this year under an existing brand, targeted at smaller cities, as the world's largest packaged food company tries to lengthen its lead in the world's biggest baby milk market. The new line, discussed exclusively with Reuters, will focus on smaller provincial cities, often in China's western provinces, where greater shipping distances and lower incomes can make some imported brand goods unaffordable, though wealth there is growing. Producers of many consumer staples such as soft drinks and soap had to seek growth in the less-profitable provincial cities years ago, as China's richer eastern markets matured.

Not for Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, which reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter sales on Thursday. All this means Reckitt will find it a bit harder to achieve its full-year target of 3-4 percent like-for-like sales growth. It may get some help from infant nutrition, where sales growth of 5 percent indicates that the division is recovering from a disruption to baby milk supplies last year.

Reckitt Benckiser Group reported lower-than-expected first-quarter sales, due to weakness in its health business, but stood by its full-year forecast, relying on an improvement as the year goes on. Like-for-like sales rose 3 percent in Reckitt's hygiene and home business, but were flat in health as a 5 percent rise in infant formula was offset by a 9 percent drop in over-the-counter medicines. Other health products, including Airborne vitamins and Scholl footcare products, were flat.

Travel groups supported the main index as British holidaymakers drove demand for destinations further afield given the contortions over Brexit. London-listed shares of German tour operator TUI advanced nearly 3 percent to their highest since mid-February, while British Airways owner IAG and EasyJet added 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively. The world's oldest travel group, Thomas Cook, jumped 4.1 percent on the small-cap index.

The consumer good group’s strategy now looks to be a hostage to U.S. lawyers. Under outgoing CEO Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt had been simplifying and refocusing its portfolio. This effort was expected to culminate in the division of the business into two separate companies: one focused on household products such as Cillit Bang cleaner and Finish dishwasher tabs, the other on consumer health treatments like Nurofen painkillers and Gaviscon heartburn tablets.

In an indictment in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, a grand jury said Indivior made billions of dollars by deceiving doctors and healthcare benefit programs into believing its Suboxone Film version was safer and less susceptible to abuse than similar drugs. The indictment charged Indivior and its subsidiary Indivior Inc with conspiracy, health care fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. If the company is convicted, the U.S. government would seek forfeiture of at least $3 billion from Indivior, the indictment said.

The euro rose and world stock markets edged higher on Wednesday amid tame U.S. inflation data and as the European Central Bank left its ultra-easy policy stance unchanged but warned that economic risks ...

The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent lower, lagging its European counterparts, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.3 percent, with more than half of the gains coming from security company G4S, which surged on M&A chatter. Markets were largely subdued due to a transatlantic aircraft subsidy dispute, with the U.S. threatening to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products. "The market is obviously taking a cautious look at the simmering EU-U.S. trade spat and preparing for a negative outcome but hoping for a happy ending," Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said.

There were many reasons for Kapoor and fellow managers to demerge Indivior Plc in 2014. Reckitt got the demerger away before the competition struck. On Wednesday, litigation risk became a stark reality, hitting Indivior and its former parent hard.

Reckitt Benckiser Group on Wednesday sought to play down any potential impact to its infant formula business from U.S. litigation against Indivior, which it used to own, saying the risk was theoretical and unlikely. The U.S. Justice Department has accused British drugmaker Indivior of illegally boosting prescriptions for its blockbuster opioid addiction treatment. "As stated in our annual report, this is a theoretical risk but we consider this to be highly unlikely and only a remote possibility," the company said, responding to a question about whether the risk for Reckitt could extend to the infant formula business, which Reckitt bought in 2017.

The FTSE 100 was marginally lower while the FTSE 250 was up 0.1 percent by 0839 GMT. Markets were largely subdued due to a transatlantic aircraft subsidy dispute, with the U.S. threatening to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products. "The market is obviously taking a cautious look at the simmering EU-U.S. trade spat and preparing for a negative outcome but hoping for a happy ending," Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said.

Dunelm Group Plc rose more than 3 percent as the homewares retailer said it expected to top analysts forecasts for full-year profit after surging online demand helped it ride out a tough British retail environment in the latest quarterly report. Shares of ASOS climbed after the British online fashion retailer stuck to its full year guidance for sales, profit margins and capital expenditure despite a plunge in first-half pretax profit.

The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday the indictment of Indivior Plc and a subsidiary on charges they engaged in an illegal scheme to boost prescriptions of the film version of its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone. An indictment filed in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, alleged Indivior made billions of dollars by deceiving doctors and healthcare benefit programs into believing the film version of Suboxone was safer and less susceptible to abuse than similar drugs. The department brought the case amid the U.S. opioid addiction epidemic, which has killed tens of thousands of people annually.

The blue-chip index advanced 0.6 percent, outshining its European peers and recording its biggest weekly gain in two months, while the midcaps rose 0.2 percent as weakness in the local currency capped gains. Oil majors Shell and BP surged over 1 percent, tracking a rise in oil prices over fears that an escalating conflict in Libya could disrupt oil supplies from the OPEC member. The FTSE 100 was already cheery as international companies rose on expectations that a China-U.S. trade dispute could be nearing an end, with President Donald Trump saying a deal could be reached in about four weeks.